Regional Variation

Level 6

You will hear different accents and words in different parts of the country, but everyone writes one standard. For example, many people in the north say zwëschent where the standard says tëschent (between).

How It Works

1. The regions
People usually talk about the Éislek (the north), the Musel (the Moselle valley in the east), the Minett (the old mining area in the south) and the centre around Luxembourg City. Luxembourgish is also spoken around Arlon in Belgium.

2. What changes
Mostly vowels and a few common words:

  • tëschent in the standard, zwëschent in the north (between)
  • Duerf in the standard, Dooref in the north (village)

People from different regions understand each other without trouble.

3. One written standard
Writing follows the official spelling and the forms in the Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire. Some regional forms are listed there as variants. Where the rules allow two forms, both are correct: see accepted spelling variants.

4. What to do as a learner
Learn the standard forms, and expect to hear others. If someone uses a word you do not know, it may simply be their regional form.

Examples (6)

  1. Mir wunnen tëschent der Stad an Esch.

    We live between Luxembourg City and Esch.

    Standard form tëschent.

  2. Mir wunnen zwëschent der Stad an Esch.

    We live between Luxembourg City and Esch.

    Northern form zwëschent, listed in the LOD as a variant.

  3. Duerf / Dooref

    village (standard form / northern form)

  4. Hatt kënnt aus dem Éislek, dat héiert een direkt.

    She comes from the Éislek; you can hear it right away.

  5. Op der Musel an am Minett schwätzen d'Leit net ganz gläich.

    People on the Moselle and in the Minett do not speak quite the same way.

  6. An der Schrëft gëtt et nëmmen eng Orthografie.

    In writing there is only one spelling.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Regional VariationLevel 6

Learn This First

Before Regional Variation, learn Accepted Spelling Variants.